Chinese and Western cultural differences in the performance of every aspect of daily life from the greeting 、 term diet and cultural differences in the way of thinking in the abstract, such as differences everywhere, from the West focus on the following colors to express the difference between Chinese and Western cultural differences in areas such as a wedding set. First, in the West to express the color difference Different colors in different languages is not expressed in the same way. The representative of China in a sense, the West has a meaning that even the "color" to understand the meaning of the contrary. (A) red (red) Whether in China or in the English-speaking countries, often in red and festive celebrations or day-related. Calendar, red font used these days, therefore, red letter day: refers to the "Day" or "happy occasion." It also refers to the red "liabilities" or "loss" because people are always negative in red to register. So there are these phrases: red figure deficit in the red loss In common with the Chinese "red" words, translated into English, may not necessarily use the "red" for example: brown sugar brown sugar red wine red wine (B) yellow Yellow in English and Chinese in the extended meaning of the differences are considerable. In English, yellow can be said that the "timid, cowardly, despicable," meaning, for example: a yellow dog despicable, cowardly people a yellow livered coward Chinese yellow symbol of the term is sometimes vulgar, vulgar and obscene, indecent indecency means, such as yellow film, erotica, yellow CD, and so on. These in the name of "yellow" in English and "yellow" has nothing to do. However, in another English word blue is the color used to indicate the kind of meaning in Chinese, such as the blue jokes (dirty joke), blue films (yellow film). Second, the cultural differences in Western wedding First of all, in Western wedding culture and the first in the West in thinking about the differences: the Chinese people more conservative, like excitement, more old-fashioned thinking, so in the history of China for thousands of years the entire wedding customs did not change much. The thinking in the West is more open to the requirements of the wedding will be lower, they will be the climax of the wedding in the church: the sacred as the "wedding march" into the red carpet, Jiao Mei's father, the bride linked hands Rose walked slowly to the groom, the bride's father, daughter to the groom's hand on hand, her daughter's life will be entrusted to the groom, all eyes followed the couple, filled with well-being in their face. Second, the result of cultural differences wedding in the West because the West in a different religion. China is mainly Buddhist, but the West is mainly Christian. Therefore, the Western wedding is to be held in the church and the priest is Zhuhun Ren. China's traditional customs of the most important part of the Bai Tiandi is, the worship heaven and earth even after the ceremony has become.中西方文化差异表现在方方面面,从日常生活的打招呼用语、饮食文化等差异到思维方式等抽象方面的差异无所不在,下面着重从中西方颜色表达的差异,中西方婚礼文化差异等方面阐述。 一、中西方颜色表达的差异 不同颜色在不同语言中表达的方式并不一样。在中国代表一种意义,在西方又表示一种涵义,甚至对“颜色”的涵义理解恰恰相反。(一)red(红色)无论是在英语国家还是在中国,红色往往与庆祝活动或喜庆日子有关。日历中,这些日子常用红色字体,因此,red letter day:指的是“纪念日”或“喜庆的日子”。红色还指“负债”或“亏损”,因为人们总是用红笔登记负数。于是就有了这些词组:red figure赤字 in the red亏损汉语中常用的带“红”字的词语,翻译成英语,可不一定用“red”例如:红糖brown sugar 红酒red wine (二) yellow黄色在英语和汉语中的引申含义差别比较大。英语中,yellow可以表示“胆小、卑怯、卑鄙”的意思,例如:a yellow dog 可鄙的人,卑鄙的人a yellow livered 胆小鬼汉语中黄色一词有时象征低级趣味、色情庸俗、下流猥亵的意思,如黄色电影、黄色书刊、黄色光碟等等。这些名称中的“黄”与英语中的“yellow”无关。然而,英语中另一个颜色词blue却常用来表示汉语中这类意思,如blue jokes(下流的玩笑), blue films(黄色电影)等。 二、中西方婚礼文化差异 首先,中西方婚礼文化差异首先和中西方人在思维方面的差异有关:中国人比较保守,喜欢热闹,思维较古板,所以在中国历史几千年的时间里整个婚礼的习俗并没有多大的变化。而西方人的思想则比较开放,对于婚礼的要求也比较低,他们婚礼的高潮则是在教堂中:随着神圣的《婚礼进行曲》步入鲜红的地毯,娇美的新娘挽着父亲手捧玫瑰慢慢向新郎走去,新娘的父亲将女儿的手放在新郎的手上,将女儿的一生托付给新郎,所有人的目光注视着这对新人,幸福洋溢在他们的脸上。其次,造成中西方婚礼文化差异的原因是中西方不同的宗教。中国是以佛教为主,而西方则是基督教为主的。所以西方的婚礼是在教堂中举行而主婚人则是神甫。中方的传统婚俗中的最重要环节就是拜天地,拜了天地以后就算是礼成了。
一、引言文化,这两种孕育自不同半球的文化,由于历史、地理环境、生产制度等方面的原因,有着极大的差异,截然不同的特色。这两种文化差异,一直备受关注。随着全球化的到来,全世界各民族间商业交流往来的日益频繁,了解中西方文化价值差异可以更好促进民族间经济、文化交流与沟通,从而避免所引起的不必要的误会和麻烦,导致的文化休克(culture shock)或交际失败(communication failure)。而语言是文化的载体,是文化的一部分,很大程度上反映了文化。谚语作为“民族文化之明镜”,来自于生活,更深刻地反映了民族文化特色,体现了人们的生产生活、思想观念、文化取向,具有持久的生命力、广泛的通俗性、生动的口语化的特点。英国著名学者培根曾说过:“The genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.”(一个民族的天才、智慧和精神,都可以在其谚语中发现。)本文将从汉英谚语入手谈谈中西文化在地理环境、宗教信仰、历史、文学传统、民族性格、思想观念等方面的差异。二、 地理环境文化是在一定的自然环境里生发出来的。人们所生存的不同环境势必影响人们的生活、生产方式,影响人们对客观外界的观察与思考。人们以通俗形象的语言来讲述自己的生活体验,描述自然现象,总结生产实践,概括生产经验。这些语言口口相传,千锤百炼,成为大家喜闻乐诵的谚语。这些谚语必然反映出自然环境的不同特征,带有鲜明的地域文化和生态文化的色彩。英国是个岛国,四面环海,海岸线曲折多变,港湾楔入,岛屿众多。这样的自然环境给英国人提供了舟楫之便。人们在长期的航运渔业生活中,创造出数以百计的英语谚语,反映他们对生活及大自然的体验和观察。如:There’s as good fish in the sea as ever come out of it.有了大海,还怕没鱼。No fishing like fishing in the sea.捕鱼要到大海。Who will not be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock.船离舵,要闯祸。A dog in the morning,sailors take warning; a dog in the night is the sailors’ delight.朝虹出天际,水手心事重,夜间见彩虹,水手乐哈哈。He goes a great voyage that goes to bottom of the sea.到达海底的人,才算做了一次远航。特殊的地理环境形成了特有的岛国气候。英国气候潮湿,天气变化大,岛上晴天少,雨天多,且多阵雨,因此,英国人出门常带把雨伞。由于英国天气变化无常的缘故,英国人非常关心天气,也喜欢谈论天气,并因此而产生了许多关于天气的谚语[1](P85):April weather, rain and shine both together.一边日出一边雨,晴雨无常四月天。An English summer, three(or two)hot days and a thunderstorm.英国的一个夏季,三(两)个热天一阵大雷雨。A misty morning may have a fine day.早晨有雾露,可能是晴天。When the wind’s in the west, the weather’s at the best.风从西方起,天气最佳丽。而处于另一个半球的中国则有着不同的地理自然风貌,中华文明发源于长江黄河流域,中国自古是典型的农耕社会,人们过着自给自足的农耕生活,农业是国民经济的重要支柱,农业在历代政府中都受到极大的重视。因此产生了许多与农业相关的谚语。如:庄稼百样巧,地是无价宝。 人勤地不懒,勤奋谷仓满。 田里无神无鬼,全靠肥料土水。 庄稼老汉不知闲,放下锄头拿扁担。 农夫不种田,城里断炊烟。 田像一块铁,在于人来打。[2](P240-241)我国的天气谚语,从量上、质上,以及悠久的历史传统上,值得称道。如“灶烟往下埋,不久雨就来”、“春天孩儿脸,一日变三变”、“太阳颜色黄,明日大风狂”、“久晴大雾必阴,久雨大雾必晴”、“夜里星光明,明朝仍旧晴”等等。[1](P85)三、 特定历史每个民族都以不同的方式在人类历史的画卷中写着自己特定的历史。从谚语中可以一窥历史风云变化。英国从十六世纪开始发展资本主义,经济迅速发展并逐渐开始迅速向海外扩张,掠夺资本主义原料,进行资本主义的原始积累。Shoe-maker’s wife goes bare feet.这句谚语正是出自于十六世纪资本主义新兴时期,小资本家拼命发家致富,属于手工业者的鞋匠们为积攒钱财,竟然连给妻子买鞋穿的钱都不舍得花。十七世纪起英国在东印度扩张,十八世纪中叶建立殖民统治。He came safe from the East –India, and was drowned in the Thames.他从东印度安然归来,却淹死于泰晤士河。[3](P79)英国历史上曾遭到多次其他国家的入侵。罗马统治期间,社会生活罗马化,拉丁语是官方、法律、商业和法律用语。丹麦人侵占期间,丹麦语也传入英国。1066年法国诺曼底登陆后,英国为法国所征服。 法语很长时期成为英国的官方语言,贵族、朝臣、地主和上流社会都使用法语,如当时的英国国王爱德华是完全不会说英语的国王,因此有英谚云:Jack would be a gentleman if he could speak French.要是杰克能讲法语,那他就是个绅士了。而三种语言交配混合到英语中,充实了英语语言,也带来了许多拉丁语、法语谚语。[1](P84)Anger is a short madness .愤怒是短暂的疯狂。(拉丁语)Art is long, life is short. 艺术是无限,生命是有限的。(拉丁语)All roads leads to Rome. 条条大路通罗马。(法语)He that is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning. 怕问者耻于学。(丹麦语)而在中国的历史长河中,秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国,从此中国进入了漫长的封建社会。广大劳动人民深受压迫和剥削,生活于水深火热之中,而统治阶级却过着穷奢极欲的生活。[4](P50)有许多汉谚就反映了这一点。
例如:朱门酒肉臭,路有冻死骨。一人得道,鸡犬升天。衙门八字开,有理无钱莫进来。只许州官放火,不许百姓点灯。四、 风俗习惯不同的民族形成了各自独特的风俗习惯:正如英语中一句谚语所说的:“So many countries, so many customs.”在对狗的态度上,中国人脑海中狗如同鸡、鸭、猪一样是一种地位十分卑微的动物。常常把狗与“下贱”、“低微”、“无赖”等贬义词联系在一起,如“狼心狗肺”、“狗腿子”、“猪狗不如”、“狐朋狗党”等,[5](P83)虽然狗也用作看家护院、狩猎、牧羊。狗还常被宰杀烹调,这在西方人看来是非常不能接受的。中国人对狗的态度在谚语中可以体现出来,如:狗眼看人低。 好狗不挡道。 狗嘴里吐不出象牙。 狗改不了吃屎。 痛打落水狗。而狗在西方人眼中不仅是狩猎、看门、工作的得力可靠的好帮手,更是生活中重要的伴侣和朋友,是抚慰人们寂寞空虚生活不可缺少的一部分,甚至将其视为家中的成员,与狗有着深厚的感情。在西方还有发生狗死后,为其安葬立碑的事。因此,狗的形象在英语谚语中是褒义的,人们对狗是怜爱、赞赏的。英语谚语之中,常常以狗的形象来比喻人的行为。如:You are a lucky dog.你是一个幸运儿。 Every dog has its day.各人皆有出头之日。 Old dog will not learn new tricks.老人学不了新东西。 Love me, love my dog.爱屋及乌。而英语中兔子常代表胆怯,但汉语中与“胆怯”相联系的动物形象则是老鼠。因此有谚语“气壮如牛,胆小如鼠”;英语民族常用狮子比喻力量、雄威,所以有谚语:March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.三月来如猛狮;去如羔羊。Every dog is a lion at home.狗是百步王,只在门前狠。A lion may be beholden to a mouse.老鼠也能帮狮子;弱者也能帮强者。这里因为狮子多产于非洲、印度等地,而英国历史上与这些地区或国家有着很深的关系。而我国不产狮子,无论南方北方都产老虎。[6](P73)从前,老虎数量繁多,常出没山林,侵扰人民,甚至危害人命。人们认为虎为百兽之王,对虎十分敬畏,有“养虎为患”、“伴君如伴虎”的说法,把虎看作力量、威武、雄壮的象征,因此产生了许多关于与老虎有关的谚语。例如:山中无老虎,猴子称大王。 不入虎穴,焉得虎子。 虎毒不食子 初生牛犊不怕虎。五、 民族性格中西方由于各自生存环境的差异,以及人们对自身环境的不同应战,发展出各自不同的社会文明,从而产生了不同的文化取向、价值观念、性格特征。在古希腊,由于土地的贫瘠,海上通道的开辟,再加上频繁的战争和几次大规模的民族迁徙,使得他们很早就发展起商业经济,创造了人类最古老的商业文明。西方成了典型的商业社会,人们从事着频繁的商业活动,正所谓“The English are a nation of shop-keepers.”(英国全民皆商,外表富强)。经商的成效不在天地鬼神而在自己,在于自己的才干。[7](P22-23)商场中的竞争激烈、优胜劣汰、你失我得,这形成了西方人个人意识较强、重视个人作用、个人独立自主、个人利益的个人主义思想。Self comes first.自我利益是第一位的。Everyman for himself and God for us all.个人为自己,上帝为大家。Near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin.自己的利益最切身。Self-preservation is the first law of nature.保存自己是自然界的第一法则。He who depends on another dines ill and sups worse.指望别人,难有好吃喝。而经商见效快、获利多、风险大,也养成了西方人急功近利、富于进取、敢于冒险的流动性格。If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. Forbidden fruit is as catch is the first step in is a battle from cradle to grave.人生是一场从摇篮到坟墓的战斗。Life, to be worthy of a rational being, must be always in progression. 人生必须永远前进,才不愧为有理智的人。Fortune favors the bold. 勇者天佑。个人主义思想使西方人重视突出个人,喜欢表现自己的个性,乐于标新立异,爱出风头,尊重个性、自我,并鼓励个性发展,对别人因个性表现出的任何形态都能够理解接受,这可以在谚语中体现出来。It’s squeaky wheel that gets the oil.吱吱叫的轮子先上油。Tastes differ.个人品位不同。Every man after his fashion.个人追求个人的风格。 If you’ve got it, flaunt it.这句谚语来源于一部The producer的美国电影。意思是如果你有钱、本事、美貌或性感,就应该让人瞧瞧。[8](P334)而以农业为根本的中国人则截然不同,农业的收获往往不在耕种者,而是老天。人的意志如何强大也阻止不了干旱、洪水、风暴等天灾的来临。[7](P23)另外农业见效慢,而一年一度的丰收来自于长期的扎扎实实、坚持不懈的努力劳动,这形成了中国人思想意识中安定保守、善于坚持忍耐、缺乏冒险、知足的性格的特质。[5](P23)
中西方国家均拥有悠久的历史和传统,在各自的 文化 上有其独特的内涵。下文是我为大家整理的关于文化差异英语论文的 范文 ,欢迎大家阅读参考! 文化差异英语论文篇1 文化差异对 英语学习 的影响 一、引言 在英语学习过程中很多人努力学习语音、词汇和语法等语言方面,却忽略了文化因素在语言学习过程中的重要作用,致使许多人虽具备一定的语言能力但在英语交流中仍会遇到许多困难。缺乏对文化因素重要性的认识已严重影响了英语学习。 文化因素对语言的影响很早便引起了国内外学者的关注,如20世纪80年代我国着名学者胡文仲就认为:“语言是文化的一种表现形式,不了解英美文化,要学好英语是不可能的。”但在多年的英语教学中文化因素仍未受到足够的重视,因此,本文将从中西方的 传统文化 、习俗文化和价值体系三方面的差异来探讨文化差异对语言的影响。 二、文化差异对语言的影响 要想学好英语不仅需要掌握语音、语义和语法等语言本身的技能,还需要注重文化差异对语言学习的影响。语言和文化是不可分割、互相依存的整体,语言是文化的表现形式和载体,同时又受所属文化的制约。若不能充分了解西方文化就无法真正学好英语。 众多学者已充分研究了文化的内涵,如戴炜栋和张红玲认为,文化研究发展至今,一个最具概括性、广为接受的观点认为文化是一个群体的生活方式,它包括人自出生后所学到的一切,如语言、言行方式和内容、信仰,以及人们赖以生存的物质和精神基础。张婧则认为,不同的民族所处的地理环境和历史环境不同,因而对不同的事物和经历有着不同的编码分类;不同的民族因不同的宗教信仰,也导致了他们独特的笃信,崇尚和忌讳心态;不同的民族因其发展的特殊历史过程也产生了本民族自己的历史 典故 、 传说 轶事。本文主要关注中西方在传统文化、习俗文化和价值体系三方面的差异及其对语言的影响。 (一)传统文化上的差异 中西方国家均拥有悠久的历史和传统,在各自的文化上有其独特的内涵。由于受到不同的历史和传统的影响,中西方国家在各自漫长的历史长河中所沉淀形成的传统文化亦不尽相同,因此,我们在 学习英语 时除了要学好语言,更要关注语言所属的文化内涵。正如刘长江所言,文化教学应与语言教学同步融合。 由于历史和传统的差异,中西方人们对于同一事物的理解和感受也有区别。如“龙”在中西方的传统文化中的内涵便迥然不同。“龙”是中华民族的图腾,我们引以为豪的自称“龙的传人”。在中国传统文化中“龙”是吉祥、幸福的象征,人们多用“龙腾虎跃”或“龙凤呈祥”等词形容吉庆的气氛。 但西方文化往往把“龙(dragon)”视为邪恶势力的象征,寓意凶残。在西方传统文化中“dragon”指的是一种长有双翅且会吐火的怪兽,因此,它与凶暴直接联系在一起。 (二)习俗文化上的差异 中西方文化差异尤其典型地体现在习俗文化方面。不同国家的习俗文化反映在各自的社会生活和交际活动中,如称谓、礼仪、恭维、致谢等方面。若不能充分了解中西习俗文化上的差异则会严重影响彼此的交流。 如在称谓方面中西方的习俗文化便有着极大的差异。中国人由于受到宗法观念的根深蒂固的影响遵循讲礼节、尊长辈的习俗。俗话说:“子不言父名,徒不言师讳。” 因此,在中国,孩子倘若对长辈或教师直呼其名会被认为不懂礼貌,将会受到家长的责罚。而在西方的习俗文化中西方人称呼除父母外的其他人时大都直呼其名,以示友好和亲近。这一点在美国尤为普遍,甚至初次见面就用名字称呼。这一差异的原因在于中国人尊崇长幼有序、尊卑有别,而西方人则崇尚人人平等、追求自由。 (三)不同价值体系间的差异 价值观念被普遍认为是文化的核心所在,不同文化背景中人的价值观念必然会有所不同。而价值观念又对人们现实生活中的言语表达产生重要的影响,因此,语言也往往折射出一个民族的价值观念。中西方价值观念的差异也直接反映在语言表达上,尤其典型地体现在诸如,禁忌、隐私等方面。 如中国人的价值观念注重社会群体间的亲密友好关系,因此,将询问对方的年龄、收入、婚否等情况视为是对对方的关心,但这些问题在西方人眼中却是一种禁忌,在他们的价值观念中这些均为个人的隐私,因此,避而不谈。再如中国人碰到熟人打招呼常会问“你去哪儿”或“你吃饭了吗”等,以示对对方的关心和双方的亲密友好关系,但这在西方人眼中却大有窥探隐私之嫌。 三、结语 英语学习中语言与文化密切相关,如高宝虹所言,在语言学习中,文化充当着极其重要的角色,语言的使用要受该语言所属民族文化制约。因此,中西方文化的差异必然影响英语语言的学习。尽管已有学者对此进行了探讨,但对文化因素的忽视仍未得到有效的改善。张友平曾指出,外语教学不应当仅仅是语言教学,还应当包括文化教学。因此,我们学习英语不仅要学习语言本身,还要熟知语言的文化背景,只有这样才能真正地将英语学以致用,准确顺畅地将其应用于对外交流之中。 参考文献: [1]胡文仲.文化差异与外语教学[J].外语教学与研究,1982(8):45-51. [2]戴炜栋,张红玲.外语交际中的文化迁移及其对外语教改的启示[J].外语界,2000(2):2-8. [3]张婧.文化知识在英语教学中的作用[J].教学与管理,2009(2):84-85. [4]刘长江.谈外语 教育 中目的语文化和本族语文化的兼容并举[J].外语界,2003(4):14-18. [5]高宝虹.交际化外语教学中的文化认知观[J].外语与外语教学,2003(8):33-38. [6]张友平.对语言教学与文化教学的再认识[J].外语界,2003(3):41-48. 文化差异英语论文篇2 浅析英汉文化差异对语言的影响 [摘要]语言文字是人类社会进行交际的重要 方法 ,同时也是文化的重要载体。各个民族的语言在受到民族自身社会文化影响的同时,又反映着各自民族本身的文化内涵。如果某一个民族的人们不了解另一个民族的文化因素和文化内涵,就很难进行顺利的交流。因此,我们得把语言知识和文化知识结合起来,交际才能顺利地进行。因此,文化差异对翻译的影响不容低估。 [关键词]文化差异 宗教信仰 历史典故 风俗 所谓翻译不仅是对语言进行的转换过程,同时也是对文化进行传递的过程。研究对外汉语教学的专家赵贤州先生说:“跨文化交际之所以成为可能,正是人类享有某些共通的文化信息;而跨文化交际之所以产生某些偏差,是因为双方不能共享另一些有差异的文化信息”。本文着重从生存环境,宗教信仰、历史典故和风俗三个方面论述英汉文化差异对翻译的影响。 一、生存环境的差异对翻译的影响 生存环境的差异对翻译的影响可以说是基础的,显而易见的,同时又是根深蒂固的。对习语的运用是英汉民族生存环境的差异,是语言运用中的一个非常重要的表现。习语的产生、运用和人们的劳动生活有着很密切的联系。例如,在汉民族的文化中,中国人们印象中的东风是很温暖的,只有西北风才是很寒冷的。而英国地处西半球,海洋性气候,西风则是 报告 春天消息的,看如下例子:How many winter days have I seen him,standing blue-nosed in the snow and east wind? (在很多冬日里我总看见他,鼻子冻得发红发紫,站在飞雪和东风里。)钱哥川在《翻译漫谈》一书中认为此句的east wind,译成汉语时应该是西风或北风,这正是地理环境与我们生存环境不同的原因造成的文化气氛的不同。又如,在中国人眼里,夏天总是和酷暑炎热联系在一起,“烈日炎炎似火烧”“骄阳似火”是常常被用来描述中国夏天的词语。而英国的夏季则是温暖明媚舒适的,是一年中最舒服最宜人的季节,就像我们中国的春天一样。显而易见,英汉两个不同的民族,由于地理环境上的不同,生存环境存在差异,观察客观事物、反映客观世界的方式和角度是不一样的。因此,翻译千万不能只照词典上的词义逐词逐句的翻译,否则不能达到有效顺利的沟通。 二、宗教信仰和历史典故对翻译的影响 英汉文化在宗教信仰与历史典故上也存在着很大的差异。这对翻译有很大的影响,我们要有深刻的认识。西方人大多信__,认为上帝(god)可创造一切,因而有“God helps those who help themselves”(上帝帮助自助的人) 的说法。而中国人信奉佛教、道教,多有“玉帝”“观音”“菩萨”“慈悲为怀”等词汇。在中国文化中,有各种各样的历史典故,如“盘古开天”“牛郎织女”“卧薪尝胆”等等。在西方的文化里,很多历史典故都来源于古希腊和罗马神话,还有圣经 故事 。请看下面例句:Being a teacher is being present at the creation,when the clay beings begin to breathe.基督__,上帝创造了人,而人又来自尘土。所以,英语中creation指“上帝”。而clay指“上帝创造的人”。理解了creation和clay这两个词的宗教内涵后,就可以把其译为:老师是创造的见证人,目睹着生命呼吸成长。可见英汉文化中不同的宗教信仰贯穿在其各自的语言表达交流之中。如果译者缺少对对象文化个性的深刻认识,就难以理解 句子 的文化内涵,这将对译文的准确性产生影响,从而达不到有效沟通。 三、风俗上的不同对翻译的影响 英汉民族在习俗上有很大的差异,这对翻译必然有一定的影响。中国人把“龙”当成是吉祥的神物,有着伟大的力量,所以龙在中国文化里是至尊无上的帝王的象征,因而有“望子成龙”的说法,但是在英美国家却把龙当作是喷烟吐火的凶残怪物。相反的,中国人把猫头鹰当做不吉祥的象征,而英语中却说as wise as an owl,把猫头鹰当做智慧的象征。类似的例子在英汉交流中,我们经常会发现,给人很新异的感觉,这就是风俗上的不同导致根深蒂固的文化差异,译者在翻译的过程中一定要深刻意识到这一点,考虑风俗对翻译的影响,能使英汉民族进行有效交流。 四、结语 不论是卓越的翻译家还是出色的译评专家,都应该是具有两种文化意识和精通两种语言的真真正正的文化人。交流促进理解,沟通有助于进步,翻译则是交流与沟通的桥梁,让我们真正做好翻译的工作,架起英汉沟通的桥梁,为英汉交流做出应有的贡献。 【参考文献】 [1]崔建京.中学英语教学中的英美文化渗透[J].大连教育学院学报,2003(6). [2]张培基.英汉翻译教程[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2004. [3]包惠南.文化语境与翻译[M].北京:中国对外翻译出版公司,2001. [4]彭保良.从文化差异的角度看英汉翻译中词义的确立[J].中国翻译,1998(1):25. [5]邓炎昌,刘润青.语言与文化――英汉语言文化对比[M].外语教学与研究出版社,1989:159.
不同的自然环境和社会背景孕育了不同的 文化 。下面是我带来的关于文化差异的英语 文章 ,欢迎阅读!
关于文化差异的英语文章1
Cultural differences
There are plenty of. people in the world. They come from different countried, have their own race, belief and way of life. What is more, their culture is different from others'. So, there is no doubt that cultural difference exist among lots of countries, especially between eastern and western countries.
Compared with the way of life, eastern people always have a bath in the evening or at night in order to relax themselves after one-day's hard work while western people take a bath in the morning. so as to keep freshly for the whole day. In general, it is true, especially for Chinese people. We, Chinese people would like to take baths at night rather than in the morning. It is a kind of habits we behave all the time.
Compared with the relationships, differences are as follow: firstly, eastern people like to make friends, sometimes through their friends, parents, relatives. While western people behave a little shyly. They do not want to make friends all the time. Secondly, eastern people would like to hang out with the person they do not know about quite a lot. while western people just like going out with the person whom they get along well with.
Finally, eastern people have much more friends than western people for their quite different way of getting along with. their friends. There is no doubt that eastern people are more outgoing than western people, so I agree with these a lot.
As for way of solving problems, eastern people always deal with things indirectly. They pay much attention to many things around them, and always work for a long time to solve the problem. However, western people just go straight the heart of the problem and solve it directly and efficiently. As far as I am concerned, this difference between eastern and western people is quite normal and correct. Eastern people, especially Chinese people care about things around them a lot, they always want to satisfy everyone's need, so that they spend much more time to solve a problem than western people.
As for way of thinking, people in eastern areas usually think indirectly. They used to think about the things around them a lot and try to deal with things in a reasonable even perfect way. However, in comparison with the eastern people, people in the western areas often think directly. They pay less attention to the things around them and care much more about themselves. Honestly speaking, I disagree to my opinion, everyone is special and has their right and obligations to do things. There is no need for us to critise others and what we should do is to respect their own. decision.
There are a lot of differences between eastern and western culture. These are the symbols of their own characteristics and we need time to dig out more differences so as to learn more about them. Most importantly, we must respect their culture firstly!
关于文化差异的英语文章2
The difference between chinese and western culture
With the rapidly challging word, people throughout the world have found it increasingly necessary to minimize the rate of misunderstanding due to miscommunication in their contacts with another. In the oast most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geoographical area, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. It might be said that technological advances have been most effective in creating the borderless word, the global community. As our world shrinks and its inhabitants become interdependent, people from remot cultures increasingly come into contact on a daily basis. It is no longer hard to find situations in which membes of ince isolared groups of people. Now these people may live thousands of miles away or right next door to each other. So all the people are faced with the challenge of understand this world. So when the east meet west, there are many problems. Some problems are listed as follows.
First of all, the way of eating. All huaman beings have certain basic needs. Our fundamental needs for things that keep us alive. This is the physioligical need. All individuals must eat in order to survive. But what people eat, when they eat, and the manners in which they eat are all patterned by culture. No society views everything in its environment that is edible and might provide nurishment as food. Americans eat oysters but not snail. The French eat snails but not locusts. The Jews eat fish but not pork. The Hindus eat pork but not beef. The Russiand eat beef but not snake. We all have ideas about what kinds of food are good to eat. We also have ideas about what kinds of food are bad to eat. As a result, people from one culture often think the food that people from another culture eat are disgusting or nauseating. Dislike is not the only reason why some culture will not eat a certain food. In some clture, certain foods are taboo. Sometimes the food taboos may be so strong thrat just the thought of eating forbidden foods can cause an indivdual to feel ill. We can also find culture difference in way of bring up children treating the early, greeting each other, saying and spending money before other people do in everyday, but in some English-speaking countries, people do not agree with us. We chinese may enjoy something that is not usually consider as edible by the English-speaking people. Generally we perfer to have thing hot and much emphasis on the taste. We eat from one plate when we are eating with others, and we like to seat one by one, and in the shape of a round. On the opposite, some English-speaking contries, most of the people like to seat in two rows, two people face to face. They have their own plate. On the aspect of table manners, there are many differences between chinese and English-speaking people. For example, in some Englishi-speaking countries, Bread plates are to the left of the main plate, beverage glasses are to the right. Salad fork, knife and soup spoon are further from the main plate than the main course knife, fork and spoon. When eating bread rolls, break off a piece before buttering. Use the knife only to butter the bread, not to cut it. They should not start eating before your host does or instructs to do so. At larger meals, it is considered okay to start eating once others have been served. When finished, place the knife and fork together at five o’clock with the fork on the left. It is considered rude to answer the telephone at the table. If need to take an urgent call, excuse self and go outside. Try to eat all the food you are served. But in China, the table manners are different. Chinese traditionally eat rice from a small bowl held in the left hand. The rice bowl is raised to the mouth and the rice pushed into the mouth using the chopsticks. Some Chinese find it offensive to scoop rice from the bowl using a spoon. If rice is served on a plate, as is more common in the West, it is acceptable and more practical to eat it with a fork or spoon. The thumb must always be above the edge of the bowl. The host should always make sure the guests drinks are sufficiently full. One should not pour for ones self, but should offer to pour for a neighbor. When your drink is being poured, you should say "thank you" and tap fingers on the table to show appreciation. When people wish to clink drinks together in the form of a cheer, it is important to observe that younger members should clink the edge of their drink below the edge of an elder to show respect.
Secondly, the way of communication. Form birth to death, communication plays an integral part in our life. There are some language problems, including the different styles of using language such as direct, indirect; expansive, succinct; argumentative, conciliatory; instrumental, harmonnizing; and so on. These different styles can lead to wrong interpretations of intent and evaluation of insincerity, aggreeiveness, deviousness, or arrogance, among other. The misinterpretation nonverbal signs and symbols such as gestures, postures, and other body movements. It is a definite communication barrier. But it is possible to learn the meanings of these observable message,usually in informal rather ways. It is more difficult to understand the less obvious unspoken codes of the other cultures. Language, as the carrier of culture, is created during the process of human beings’ productive labor and serves as the tool of communication to convey the message between people. However, it has been endowed with magic and power in particular language acts. As the old saying goes, troubles come out of the tongue. Superstitious people think that the language itself can bring about fortune or misfortune so that taboos to restrict the use of language are created. Anyone who violates them will get punishment, whereas those who faithfully obey the restrictions of language taboo will get protection. Furthermore, linguistic taboos change with the development of society .The paper firstly analyzes the evolution of linguistic taboo. It is indicated in the paper that linguistic taboo exists in almost every aspect of people’s life and is a universal social phenomenon in China and Britain. Both Chinese and English cultures are in agreement about linguistic taboos such as pronunciation taboo, and vocabulary taboo. However, influenced by different cultural backgrounds, ideologies and the concepts of value, Chinese and English linguistic taboos also have differences, as is discussed in the paper from the aspects of taboo subjects, taboo numbers and names. At last, this paper puts forward two effective ways of avoiding taboo, that is, using euphemism and having a good knowledge of the taboo culture. And this discussion would help English learners improve their ability of cross-cultural communication and achieve better communicational effects. For example, During the feudal times, people were not equal to the rulers and were suppressed by their superiors. The distinction between the upper and the lower classes was also reflected in the evaluation of the language used by them respectively. The words of upper class used were considered good and elegant while those used by the lower class were regarded as vulgar and indecent and should be avoided in the speech of ladies and gentlemen. In modern society, as a result of the development of science and technology, many natural phenomena are no longer mysterious. Human beings not only constantly improve their abilities to exploit the world where they are living through their great wisdom and knowledge, but also make efforts to explore the extraterrestrial world. Science has much more say in today’s society. Thereby, the superstitious elements in linguistic taboos decrease while those reflecting spiritual civilization increase.
In short, by comparison, we can find that both Chinese and English communication reflect people’s psychology for good will, for safety and fortune and pleasantness. The Chinese and English people restrict their words and deeds through taboos, trying to keep a harmonious relationship between human and nature, or between people and society. They are a reflection of people’s pursuit of freedom and equality.
The most important, the different way of family structure, family values and family education. Family structure is the big difference between east and west, traditional chinese, amony many other Asians, repect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty toward them. Children repay their parents` sacrifices by being successful and supporting them in old age. This is accepted as a natural part of life in China. In contrast, taking care of aged parents is often viewed as a tremendous burden in the English-speaking countries, where aging and family support are not honored highly. In some English-speaking countries are still extrmely family-oriented. They are dedicated to helping their children and will sacrifice greatly for their children to get an edcuation. In turn, the children are devoted to their parents, who often live nearby. Grown children who go away and leave the country for the economic reasons typically send large parts of their salary home to their parents and the rest of the family. Or in some Asia, any decisions or actions are done from family consideration, not individual desires. Peope`s behavior is judged on whether it brings shame or pride to the family. The children are trained to rely on their families, to honor elderly people, and to fear foreigners. And many of them think that their actions in this life will influence their status in the next life.
The way of family edcation is also the different. We all know the family education is the elementary education for children. Many serious problems have appeared in our education system in recent years. Almost everyone has realized the importance of solving these problems and many people have presented a lot of valuable suggestions. There are many types of family education in the world and each of them shows distinctive features and is closely responsive to its culture. And American family education is the most famous one among them. There are great differences in the concepts of education, methods of education and results of education between East family education and West family education. In some English-speaking countries, parents’ aims are to train their children to have the ability of adapting to environmental variety and the ability of living independently. Based on this concept, most American parents emphasize more to train their children’s ability of independence once they are born. They generally believe that children’s growth must rely on their own experiences, because they think that children should form a self-supporting will and the capacity to live independently since their childhood. And the capacity comes from the training in the early age. The so-called training contains many aspects, such as work, temper will, patience, the spirit of hard work, etc. However, the most fundamental training is the ability of adapting to hard conditions. Through the process of work, children will form the labor sense, learn some work skills and form a habit of labor. Besides, children can learn how to overcome difficulties, temper their willpower, develop their talents and skills, rich their knowledge, and form a habit of hard work and thrifty by working in hard conditions. It is just in the unconsciously process that children will obtain the independent survivability and take the responsibilities for the society. Compared with some English-speaking countries, Chinese parents have a very different concept of children’s education. Some parents in China only care about whether the children have a promising future, a good job, a good life or not. Based on these expectations, the majority of parents feel that their responsibility for their children is to create as good conditions as possible they can so that the children will not worry about anything in the future. Chinese parents would like to provide everything what they can for their children in the process of children’s growth. In short, they would like to sacrifice anything if their children can live better with their help. Therefore, in the process of children’s growth, the most important thing the parents concerning is to developing their children’s intellect, except for caring children’s daily life. In order to make their children have a good performance in study, become outstanding, or even become a famous person in the future, they would not let children do anything except studying. As for the children’s independence, civic awareness and their ability adapting to the society in the future, they consider little or not at all. From these aspects we can find the obvious differences of family education between America and China.
When we faced with those difference between West and East, we should give some advice to solve these problems. According to the three big difference that pointed, we should find some way to deal with these problems.
We can study other languages and learn to expect in nonvwebal forms and other cultural aspects. We can train ourselves to meet intercultural encounters with more attention to situation details. We can use an investigative approach rather than stereotypes and preconceptions. We can gradually expose ourselves to differences so that they become less threatening. We can even learn to lower our tension level when needed to advoid triggering defensive reactions. The overall goal should be to achieve intercultural communication competence.
So the ideal solution to reduce the problems are to share knowledge with others in communication. This is why it is easiest to communicate with other members of the same group. This is why people so often gather together socially with others who are very much like them. Since intercultural communication is communication with members of different cultual groups, and therefore, because we do not share knowledge, assumptions, values, and forms of discourse with them, we must expect there to be problems of interpretation. We must look for these problems, anticipate where they will arise out of our differences, and then plan our aommunications to be as effective as possible.
However, we have to remember that, most of the time, the different ways that are the customs of dfferent cultures are neither right nor wrong. It is simply that different people do the same tings in different manners, even though we can not understand ,we should show the respect. I believe this is the best way to make our life become more comfortable and make the world more harmonious.
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